Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan has told Parliament that presently no proposal was under consideration for granting Most Favoured Nation (MFN) status to India.

The state-run APP news agency reported that in reply to a question in the National Assembly, the minister said further that a “negative list” still existed, and that this meant that MFN status has not been given to India. With regard to non-tariff barriers, the minister said that this was varied from case to case.

The minister said that at present, around 150 Indian goods were being imported through the Wagah border. He added that there needed to be debate in Parliament on whether trade needed to be linked with Pakistan’s security policy.

The minister further said that even countries which were engaged in conflict or a stand-off such as China and Taiwan had considerable annual trade, and which in this particular case was in the region of $200 billion. He said even India and China, which have had not the best of relations, had bilateral trade of around $75 billion every year.

Mr Khan said Pakistan was a member of the World Trade Organisation and could not make a distinction between countries in trade.